Back to class: Deal that drove lecturers away from streets

Labour Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfred Mutua (third left) and Higher Education PS Dr Beatrice Inyangala flanked by KUSU Secretary General Dr Charles Mukhwaya and his counterpart UASU Dr Constantine Wasonga signing a return to work arrangement on September 26, 2024. [Mike Kihaki, Standard] Learning in public universities is set to resume on Friday. This comes after the government struck a Sh2.4 billion deal with unions in the institutions of higher learning. After intense negotiations, the government committed to providing an additional Sh800 million to its original offer of Sh1.6 billion, sending the lecturers and the non-teaching staff back to work. In the end, the workers settled for a salary raise of between seven and 10 per cent, and graduated across job groups. This means that workers in higher job groups of 13,14 and 15 will get a raise of seven per cent. While those in Job Groups 10,11 and 12 will take home a 10 percent salary increase. The meeting agreed on an automatic annual increment of four per cent of salary for the two years in the CBA circle between 2021-2025, beginning July 1, 2023. Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua said the deal was struck after the National Treasury increased the funds from Sh1.6 billion to Sh2.4 billion towards the enhanced salaries. Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Secretary General Constantine Wasonga said the dons can now breathe a sigh a relief. "We have taken the low-hanging fruits. The rest of our demands will be completed in one month," Wasonga said. Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) Secretary General Charles Mukhwaya said: "We have been striking and now we have struck a deal. Once we execute the deal, the strike will be over." Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala said the development is a relief for learners in the institutions. "As the government, the university staff welfare is top of our core priority. Our academic programmes will resume immediately," said Dr Inyangala. The employers of various universities and their constituent colleges shall form a collaborative viable plan to recover the lost time when tutors were on strike. Also in the meeting were representatives of the Attorney General, the Kudheiha Workers Union, the State Cooperation Advisory Committee as well as the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). "We need to have a country where the employees feel working in a fair and predictable environment. The employer also should feel comfortable with the staff they are hiring to produce results," Dr Mutua said. "We have broken even today and the impasse that has been there for two weeks was reasonless. We cannot have it all," Mutua said. Fred Barasa, the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) chairman, said with the intervention of the government at all levels, they have been able to get a mutual agreement. "We shall implement what has been agreed upon here," he said. Labour Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfred Mutua (third left) and Higher Education PS Dr Beatrice Inyangala flanked by KUSU Secretary General Dr Charles Mukhwaya and his counterpart UASU Dr Constantine Wasonga after signing a return to work arrangement on September 26, 2024. [Mike Kihaki, Standard] A return-to-work formula seen by The Standard shows that the unions will also benefit from the negotiated harmonisation of various allowances. The agreement shall be in effect from July 1, 2021, and will be in force for four years until amended by mutual agreement. The deal also states that no member shall face victimisation or disciplinary action for participating in the strike. The workers also managed to agree with the government on the contentious retirement age for workers, which means that graduate assistants, tutorial fellows and assistant lecturers will exit service at 70 years. Senior lecturers, associate professors and professors will retire at 74 years. "The union shall immediately call off the industrial action upon execution of this agreement. As a result, the employer shall withdraw unconditionally the Employment and Labour Relations case and parties shall bear own costs," reads the return to work formula by Uasu. An inter-ministerial committee shall sit to resolve the allowances, medical cover, internal CBAs, staffing in the institutions and promotions. "IPUCCF and Uasu will convene by Friday (today) to simulate the salary scales for the financial year 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 to be implemented by October," the deal reads. On retirement age, Kusu members working in laboratories and university libraries will go home at 65. Mutua said this will require those in the lower cadres to work towards benefiting from the extended clusters. "This is a transition growth and anyone being hired will be subjected to these new rate age," he said. Mutua further explained that those lecturers with existing contracts of 75 years in higher learning institutions will remain in force. The unions and government officers also agreed on a framework that will see car loan and mortgage scheme to dons enhanced. Mutua noted that the committee will resume sittings in a week's time for another one month to resolve the other pending issues such as uniform commuter allowance.

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